Donut's Dilemma
by Scott Nakagawa
Summary: Time: RvB Season 17. A group of ex "soldiers" went on a time-traveling mission to prevent an ally from getting brain damage, but this led to a paradox. The soldier Donut, saved by the whim of an almighty being, is the only one capable of traveling freely, while the others were trapped in mental torture chambers by an AI. Donut must save them before they destroy themselves.


**Background information: (Sorry to give homework, but it's a fanfiction and I like doing alternate endings. I want even those unfamiliar with the original series to enjoy.)**

**Red vs Blue is the story of two opposing teams full of bickering dumbasses dealing with bizarre scenarios while they try to fight for a war they themselves don't understand. By this point in the story, the two teams are allies, and the current adversary is a time paradox they caused due to manipulation by the god Genkins. Since he can't kill them directly, he trapped them in an empty dimension and used an artificial intelligence known as the "Labyrinth" to force each character to experience their deepest insecurities until their emotions kill them.**

**The only exception is Franklin Donut. Preserved by a temporary ally named Krovos, he played the main role in undoing the time paradox. His experience has been horrid as his 'friends' have either dismissed him or treated him with the maximum disrespect during all of their encounters. While once oblivious, his involvement as the savior has forced him to confront the way his allies treat him. He got a begrudging apology, but he's mostly accepting it because circumstances require cooperation. With conflicting emotions but a strong resolve, Donut goes into the dimension to save his friends, believing himself to be immune to the "Labyrinth". **

**Disclaimer: This takes place in the start of episode 12 in season 17. Technically, Donut never faced the Labyrinth. Also, the character Doc was brought back in an earlier episode after Donut supposedly killed him in the season 16 finale, but this fanfiction assumes that Doc's alive. I thought it would give the events in this series provide more weight for Donut.**

Donut, a retired soldier in pink spartan armor, crouched onto his knees while holding a rifle. He glanced in all six directions, keeping a an eye out for hidden enemies. After being teleported into enemy territory by a former adversary named Krovos, he couldn't be too careful. He checked the tracking device Krovos installed in his helmet. None of his allies were nearby, assuming the tracker functioned properly.

He appeared to be inside a small cubicle. On three sides were grey walls, all of which were barely ten feet away from him. "Stretching my hammies would make this an even tighter fit," he remarked. "No! Head in the game, Donut! You're here to save your friends!" He cocked his rifle and stared ahead. In front of him stood a glass wall reaching all the way up to the ceiling. The wall extended forward a number of feet, and Donut could make out another room through the translucent glass. Unlike the small room Donut inhabited, that one might have a possible exit.

To Donut's left was a box of grenades. To his right was a series of buttons. A label on the wall above reading "Security Measures". Other buttons had smaller labels like "wall turrets" and "floor spikes". None read something as convenient as "open door", but nothing had been easy for Donut since his fight with Doc.

A small gap divided the glass wall and the ceiling, around four Donuts high. "That space looks big enough for me to crawl through…thirty pounds ago. Carolina and…Washington…might've been able to make that jump."

Donut knocked his head against the glass, transferring his doubts out of himself. "Stop that, Donut. Doc stood in the way of the universe's salvation. If Washington is prepared to live with brain damage, you can try to help. And actually succeed for once."

"He's in here!" A familiar voice belonging to Agent Washington raised Donut's spirits.

"Washington? Is that you?" Donut tried to look through the glass, and to his relief, a small grayish blur appeared to get closer. _Washington must've broken through his mental prison on his own, _Donut thought. _I knew he was too strong to destroy himself. _

"Statistically speaking, it would've made more sense for us to split up and search. A large group just paints a larger target in one place." A nasally voice and dark red blur, both belonging to the know-it-all Simmons.

"You're here too, Simmons? Heck yes!" Donut's helmet microphone nearly peaked from his excitement. With three of them free from mental prisons, rescuing the others would be easy.

"Quit bitching about a good thing, Kissass," a lazy voice responded, belonging to the orange-armored Grif. "I was ready to leave twenty paradoxes ago. Let's shoot this fucker and go home."

"Grif, too? This is…great?" Donut's elation transformed into suspicion. Out of eight imprisoned people and one robot he saw die, three just happened to escape on their own. On top of that, Grif mentioned shooting someone. _Surely he means Genkins. No, we tried that. He's impervious. But surely-_

A loud hum pierced the glass. The light blue Tucker, having shown up right next to the glass all of a sudden, slashed into the glass. Donut jumped back. Even though Tucker's energy sword wasn't long enough to reach him, the imagined result sent a chill up Donut's spine.

"Take that, you evil fuckface!" he said. "Hope you felt that too, Felix."

"Get down, Tucker!" A female in a similarly colored armor, Carolina, jumped from Donut's left and kicked Tucker out of the way. She shot at the glass while her form got smaller.

Donut shouted and braced himself. One second later, he forced himself to stare at reality. He switched on his radio and connected to everyone. "Guys, stop shooting! I'm behind the glass!"

"A vile plan befitting of traitorous scum," a gruff voice responded back, belonging to the red armored Sarge. "Accept your death, maggot! There's only second guessin' when there's no one possessin'!"

"He'sh already inside my head!" a skittish voice shouted, belonging to the blue-armored Caboose. "That space is for My. Ears. Only, evil Donut!"

"What are you saying?" Donut shouted.

A TV screen popped up on Donut's left side that displayed the outside. All eight were gathered around the glass wall. An image of Donut was on the wall, one way clearer than the images Donut saw through the glass. The image also hid behind an imaginary dirt wall, or berm, while preparing throwing weapons.

"Donut, if you can still hear us in there, we're sorry," Washington said. "But we know the truth. Krovos possessed you, and you've lost control of your body. We're on a time crunch, and after seeing-"

"Could you be any softer?" a high pitched voice called out, belonging to Kaikaina. "He's probably another weird Labyrinth illusion messing with our minds! Let's keep those inner demons out of our heads! While we still can…" The panic in her voice betrayed her harsh words.

Donut could piece…something…together. Apparently, everyone believed him to be permanently possessed, and his death would help them escape. Could they really believe something that stupid? _No, I don't really have a right to talk. But I'll try anyway._

Donut turned on his radio and connected it to everyone. "It's me, Donut! What, do I have to say an innuendo every five seconds for you jerks to believe it's me?" _Was that too harsh?_

"Much as I hate to agree with you, Kai, we've got a universe to save." Grif throws a grenade at the ceiling gap. Donut, tears in his eyes, looked up. The grenade missed the opening and hit the glass. To Donut's relief, the others couldn't make as accurate a throw as he.

Grif jumped aside to dodge the explosion, which caused a small crack.

"Everyone, stop charging in recklessly!" Everyone's attention shifted to Carolina as she led the operation. "Follow in formation as I command so I can minimize damage to all of you!" She then gave specific commands to everyone, placing them into a formation she likely learned from Command.

"Minimize, my ass," Tucker grunted, clutching his stomach as he crouched and pointed his sniper rifle.

They weren't listening. After saving them from the paradox and being the only one capable of giving their memory-damaged selves bearings, they still won't listen, and believe a story from another person who nearly kill him. "Carolina, Grif, everybody, stop shooting at me! I save your life and you fuckers try to kill me again? I'm not a servant of Genkins! You'd all be stuck in the paradox if it wasn't for me!"

"Ready for your commands, Carolina," Washington said, measuring the distance between him and the wall. "Guess the universe needs a bigger price."

"Guys?" Donut's voice conveyed a similar panic to Kaikaina's. Everyone was dead-set on killing him, mistaking him for an illusion created by the Labyrinth. "This is a joke. You're just poking fun at me like usual, right?" In response, eight simultaneous guns cocked. "Guys, please."

"Fire!" A storm of bullets followed Carolina's command. They continued to rail against the glass wall, creating more and more cracks.

Donut trembled. His 'friends' were attempting to kill him, and they wouldn't listen to him. He dropped his gun. What would one gun do against eight? For that matter, should he even fight back? He killed Doc because he stood in the way of universe salvation. They're doing the same thing to him. Killing one to save many.

"Lighten up, maggots!" Sarge said. "We get to solve our problems with good old fashioned murder, and I'll have only one migrane at the base! It's a win-win!"

Donut blinked twice.

"I despise you too, sir," Grif said. "But I agree. Suppressing all of my memories with Donut will be a lot easier when he's not around to create more."

"Um, guys?" Tears formed in Donut's eyes.

"Sounds like pink glass man not, being alive, will make EVERYONE HAPPY!" said Caboose.

Insults continued to pour in. Down the line, everyone shared how much their lives would improve without Donut. Not sure what he could say, tears continued to flow. This was his karma for killing Doc. Surely he could've found a way without killing Doc, but he didn't. Now the people he considered friends are doing the same to him.

"I once swore an oath to never make another sex pun if Donut also stopped," Tucker said. "But I can't trust him to do anything. Killing him's a safer bet."

"Is…" Donut stared at his palms, no longer caring about the breaking glass. "Is this how they've always felt? Was there really no way, that someone could like me?"

"Nope." Donut stood up and grabbed a grenade. After removing the pin, he threw it into the opening. "Tucker said he had faith in my plan. You missed a crucial detail, Labyrinth."

After a few skips, the grenade landed on the other side, and the resulting explosion stopped the shooting, for now. "Son of a bitch!" Simmons said.

"Everyone stop. Look up there." Carolina pointed at the crevice. "Looks like this illusion can throw as good as the real Donut."

"I bet it tosses like him, too!" Caboose said.

Carolina turned to Washington. "Don't fire on the wall, Washington. Just shoot at any grenade that passes through. Everyone else, keep it up!"

The firing commenced. Donut grabbed a few grenades. Rather than throw them, he attached them to his waist. He then walked to the control panel with the labeled buttons. "If I'm going to break out, I may need a little extra force."

He pushes one that says "Turrets". On the other side, two turrets appeared from the wall and fired.

"Get back!" Everyone dodged the range of the turrets thanks to Carolina's quick order, except for Kaikaina. Even among the Reds and Blues, her skills were so laughable that she couldn't even follow orders properly. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one.

"She said get back, Kai!" Grif shouted, intercepting the bullet storm.

Kaikaina couldn't move. "Dex?"

Washington grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the way. Grif fell over. Blood stained his armor.

"Dex!" Kaikaina shouted. "Please get up, Dex! Why fight if you're not here?"

"Grif, I'm sorry!" Donut shouted. "Everyone, just stay away and we can talk! I don't want anyone else to die!"

His shouts weren't heard. The panic brought about a cacophony of voices, and his got drowned out.

"Enough!" Carolina shouted, shooting at the ceiling. In a few short seconds, she restored order and assigned everyone to a new formation. They returned fire once more, out of the turret's range. This tactic was ineffective against the multitude of hidden weapons, should Donut need to use them.

Donut tried to rationalize their behavior. These other soldiers had to be illusions, or puppets acting like his friends. The Labyrinth tried to mimic his friends and failed, thus the people outside couldn't be his friends. Right?

_Possibly, _Donut thought. _It's unlikely that the Labyrinth can control them, but how can I be sure? _

"This is for Dex, you creepy stalking monstrosity!" Kaikaina shouted, firing her rifle without abandon.

Donut looked over the other control buttons. He prayed that one of them, just one of them, would be able to immobilize the team without killing them. But such a solution didn't seem to exist. Floor spikes, pitfall, poisonous gas, everything would lead to another death. No matter what, Donut wouldn't kill anyone else, if he could._ Oh! I can!_

At the bottom right was a button with the label "Armor Lock*". Donut knew how a feature that once saved his life functioned. Basically, when activated, all armored units freeze and their consciousness lie in an otherworld-like plane. If Donut activated this, he could freeze everyone else and ensure a peaceful resolution. That's what he thought, until he read the section associated with the "*".

"* - All personnel with the specific armor equipment will be affected, including those with outdated armor or those within this room. To the one who pushes this button, please remove your armor or you will be frozen in place, unable to push it again."

Donut checked his display. No gaseous molecules were present in the atmosphere. Put simply, they're in space. Grif's body being exposed probably killed him before the gun turrets. Assuming, of course, that his helmet's indicator wasn't another Labyrinth trick, but disproving the lie could cost him his life. His oxygen level was limited enough.

"I'll kill that prissy fruitcake if it's the last thing I do!" Kaikaina shouted.

"Use that rage," Carolina instructed. "Just don't let it control you."

"Can do!" Sarge kept up his firing. "Time to spill the jam from this stale pastry!"

"That's not what she meant, Sarge!" Tucker reloaded his rifle, and kept firing. "Not that I don't understand you. This pansy actually thought he could one-up me of all people in leadership."

"You said it, Tucker," Washington chimed in. "For once he does something of his own volition, and suddenly he's a fucking know it all. If only Krovos had saved someone competent, we wouldn't be here."

Whether Washington either ignored his regret or forgot it, his words cut Donut once more. Coupled with the continuous barrage of insults, the glass wall's ever increasing cracks barely registered to Donut. Everyone continued to lay into him, over and over, each insult somehow digging deeper. Donut switched off the radio communication, but the insults kept coming

"I'll make sure you actually die this time, Donut," Washington said. "You'll be useful for the first time."

"Washington…" Donut started to whimper. _It can't be real. They have to be fake. No way would Washing treat me like this after all we've been through. Why don't I feel the justified rage like before? Is it because, they're right?_

Donut couldn't completely deny that thought. While most of this group was gathered because of their incompetence, he often went beyond that. Whether they were making do in a supposed apocalypse, waiting for command's reinforcements, fighting off a brain-damaged berserker, fighting an army of freelancers, or even just vacationing on an abandoned planet, he only made things worse for those around him with his obliviousness. And yet…

_Sarge continues to come up with stupid plans while never listening to anyone else_, Donut thought. _Caboose, well, enough said. Grif only acts to aid his laziness, and Simmons abandons his motives at the drop of a hat. Tucker let fame get to his head and kept tripping over himself. Carolina's the reason we're in this predicament! A trained freelancer like Washington could've resolved everything quickly if his emotions hadn't set him against Carolina, because people listen to him. And here I stand, about to let my emotions control me too, because of voices just pretending to be my friends. The radio's not even on! _Donut finally checked the display Krovos gave him. Sure enough, none of the gang was nearby.

Donut stomped, ignoring the voices in his helmet. "Labyrinth, you think these people have any right to tell me I'm useless? I'm the reason they're even fighting back! But unlike you, I don't kill everything in my way! Even if the people shooting me are the real deal, there's no real threat here!"

Donut pushed the auto-lock button. He'd figured out the challenge here. The Labyrinth put him in such an advantageous position so that he would eventually snap and kill his friends. The guilt at just a possibility of them being real would've torn Donut apart. Armor-lock was a last resort in name only, as Donut would've been subject to his friends' insults with no way to escape, forever or until he broke. If Donut had gone into the Labyrinth with no awareness of its' machinations trickery, that button push might've been it for him.

Everyone's chatter continued as Donut floated in the incorporeal plane. Donut saw everyone else floating in the space, including Grif with blood on his armor. All of them glared at Donut while hurling insults one after another, either about ruining their chance to save the universe or anything capable of hurting him.

"I know you can hear me, Labyrinth, even if you won't talk." Donut heard every insult, but talked like he didn't. "I'm aware of your trick. I bet you designed that wall to never break, but even if you didn't, they'll never break through. And their insults can't hurt me, because they're just projections of my friends. Your program seeks to drive me into depression, but you can't achieve that goal through physical or emotional means. You've lost." Donut thanked an uninvolved god that he didn't have a body to show off his fear.

The space-like dimension stood still, for just a moment. In the next, it shattered on all sides. Around Donut was nothing but silence. He stood on a platform. Surrounding him were multiple paths divided by walls, much like an actual labyrinth.

Donut breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing even a terrifying AI like the Labyrinth is subject to a logical paradox." By making the Labyrinth's goal seemingly impossible, Donut hoped that the AI would get an error and stop running. His bluff had paid off, but only he was safe, for now.

Donut tapped on his helmet. The display detailing the location of his friends turned on. Grif only seemed to be a short distance away. "I'm coming, guys," he said, and ran forward. _Maybe I can bluff out Genkins too. _


End file.
